WCW Thunder (March 27, 1998)

Original Airdate: March 27, 1998 (taped March 26)

From Fairfax, Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, and Bobby Heenan

Eric Bischoff is in the production truck, threatening the guys should they show an embarrassing video of the nWo

Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr come out to open the show, and Eddie is mad that Chavo still hasn’t proven himself to grandma, so Eddie will take Chavo’s scheduled TV title match against Booker T later, and Chavo can have Eddie’s signed match with Chris Benoit instead. But only because he loves him

Chavo Guerrero Jr v Chris Benoit: Benoit shows the kid no mercy, cracking him with a chop right away, and unloading in the corner. Meanwhile, Bischoff and Rick Rude show up to take over at the commentary desk, and Benoit just keeps hammering Chavo with chop after chop. Backbreaker gets Chris a two count, so he adds three-alarm no-release version, but Guerrero counters after the second alarm. Chavo with a dropkick, but Benoit quickly cuts him off with a knee, and then dumps him front-first across the top rope. He goes for the kill, but Chavo is ready with a sunset cradle for two, before Chris puts a fork in him with the crippler crossface at 3:33. This felt unfocused. ½*

Bischoff and Hollywood Hulk Hogan hit the ring, and boy, those ‘thunder’ flashes in the background are getting real old real quick. Anyway, the usual rambling, ‘focused’ on Hulk refuting that there is dissension in the ranks of the nWo. That brings Kevin Nash out to get in Hogan’s face, and he wants to know why, since Hulk is supposedly the big dog, why his pal Syxx doesn’t have a job? Well, getting right to it there. Not sure if that was a shoot or not, but considering the real life animosity over his firing, I’m leaning towards ‘was.’ Regardless, Hulk brushes it off perfectly, and they agree to work together to deal with Giant and Roddy Piper at Spring Stampede (or ‘the next pay per view,’ per Hulk, who apparently can’t be bothered to remember the specific names), and to prove their unity, they make an open challenge for tonight

Prince Iaukea v La Parka: Parka with a powerslam for two early on, and a spinheel kick leads to a cross corner whip. They fights over a waistlock, ending in Iaukea knocking him to the outside with a koppou kick, and Iaukea dives from the apron with a somersault senton. Back in for a backdrop, but Parka kicks him in the face to block. Another kick, but Iaukea uses a corkscrew legwhip to block, and a bridging northern lights suplex puts it away at 1:59. Was Iaukea getting a renewed push during this period? Because that’s two TV wins in a row over guys he had no business pinning clean. The match was short and messy. ½*

Tony brings Lex Luger out to accept Hogan and Nash’s open challenge for a tag match tonight, and his partner will be WCW World Champion Sting

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Chris Jericho v Disco Inferno: Disco dominates early on, and a 2nd rope fistdrop gets him a two count. Jericho fights back with a drop-toehold, allowing him a brainbuster, but a charge gets blocked with a spinebuster. Disco adds an atomic drop, and a jumping forearm gets him two. Swinging neckbreaker gets another two, but Jericho counters a clothesline into a butterfly backbreaker, and the Liontamer finishes at 3:25. Not a particularly interesting one. ¾*

Bill Goldberg v Jerry Flynn: Flynn tries attacking, but Goldberg chucks him off with an overhead suplex, and a powerslam follows. Chokeslam, but Jerry counters with a triangle choke, so Goldberg muscles into the chokeslam to shake him off. Flynn tries a sleeper, but Goldberg powers out of that as well, and Bill schools him on the mat. Corner charge, but Flynn dodges, and manages a corner spinheel kick. That gets Goldberg’s attention, but he shrugs it off, and delivers a spear ahead of the Jackhammer at 2:45. The quickie squashes are a better fit for Goldberg. DUD

Psychosis v Billy Kidman: Mike Tenay joins us for commentary on this one. Kidman attacks from behind, and a sloppy criss cross ends in Psychosis knocking him to the outside with a spinheel kick. He sets up a dive, but Kidman shoves him off the top, and Psychosis takes a bump to the guardrail. Kidman adds a shooting star press off of the apron, and uses a leveraged pin for two on the way back in. Kidman with a sitout spinebuster for two, and a chinlock wears him down for an elbowdrop. Powerbomb, but Psychosis blocks. Tilt-a-whirl, but Psychosis counters to a clothesline for two, only to hit an elbow on a corner charge. Kidman gloats about it, allowing Psychosis a dropkick, and a flying guillotine legdrop gets him two. Psychosis with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but Kidman blocks a dive with a vertical superplex. Kidman asks Sick Boy for an assist, but it backfires, and Psychosis puts Billy away with a flying legdrop at 4:33. This was kind of rough going, with lots of sloppy sequences. Seemed like maybe they were having communication issues, or something. *

Tony brings WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page out to discuss Raven possessing the physical title belt. 

Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart v Curt Hennig and Brian Adams: Rick Rude pushes Marshall out of the commentary booth, taking his place. Bulldog and Adams start, and Davey dominates. Tag to Neidhart for a bodyslam, so the heels use a distraction, and Smith takes the bait. That’s enough to turn the tide, and they work Bulldog over. He fights Adams off to make a tag, but Neidhart walks into a piledriver for two. They work Anvil over, but just kind of forget to cut the ring in half in any real way, and Smith tags back in. He runs wild on Curt, so Adams attacks, and Roseanne Barr the door! Everyone brawls, until the referee throws it out at 3:41. It’s kind of shocking (and sad) that four guys with decades of pro experience between them couldn’t get through a sub four minute match without it veering into embarrassing territory. -¼*

WCW United States Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Perry Saturn: Saturn attacks before the bell to kickstart the match, but a backdrop gets countered with a sunset flip for two. Saturn fires back with a superkick for two, but he argues the count, allowing DDP a schoolboy for two. Saturn with a suplex for two, and he works an abdominal stretch from there, but gets busted using the ropes. Page hooks an abdominal stretch of his own, but Saturn counters with a bridging northern lights suplex for two, and he grounds Dallas in a chinlock. Page fights to a vertical base and uses a belly-to-belly suplex, triggering a full comeback. Diamond Cutter, but Saturn has a chincrusher ready to block. That allows Perry to go upstairs, but Dallas crotches him on the top, as Raven shows up in the aisle with the title belt to distract him. That allows Saturn a dive, but Page catches him in the Cutter - only to chase after Raven instead of covering, and getting counted out at 5:17. Dumb finish aside, this was fine. *

WCW Television Title Match: Booker T v Eddie Guerrero: Booker tries to talk sense into Chavo before the bell, so Eddie clobbers him for two. Chavo then gets cute, intentionally passing Eddie a weapon in full view of the official, and causing a DQ at 0:21. Well, that was certainly a… use… of time. But, hey, it’s TV. Moving an angle along is perfectly acceptable. Afterwards, Eddie forces Chavo to beat up Booker to assert his power, but Benoit saves. DUD

Rick Steiner v Scott Norton: Buff Bagwell uses a distraction to allow Norton a sneak attack, but a corner charge misses, and Rick uses a belly-to-belly suplex to set up an elbowdrop. He goes to a half-crab next, but a jumping backelbow literally bounces right off of Scott. That was pretty cool. Scott works him over for a bit, but Rick starts making a comeback, so Bagwell passes Norton a weapon - only for it to backfire, and Steiner to score the pin at 3:20. ¼*

Sting and Lex Luger v Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash: Sting and Hogan start, and Sting dominates with punches. Sting grabs a standing side-headlock, but Hulk manages a corner clothesline. Turnbuckle smash follows, but Sting reverses a second, and delivers a ten-punch count. Tag to Lex for a bodyslam, and he works on Hulk, so Hollywood goes to the eyes. That buys enough time for a clothesline, and he passes to Kevin. Nash unloads on Luger in the corner, and a cross corner clothesline connects. Back to Hulk for a choke as they work Luger over, but a miscommunication results in Nash blasting Hogan with a clothesline. Hot tag to Sting, and he runs wild. Stinger Splash on Nash looks to finish, but Randy Savage runs in for the DQ at 4:22. Afterwards, the nWo run in on the babyfaces, but they manage to fight them off to stand tall as the show ends. That’s been happening a lot more lately, and that’s not a bad thing. ¼*

BUExperience: I guess Nitro got all the good stuff this week.